The flippable fashion fixture is going off the page and offline, collaborating with Nine West on a collection of pumps, flats and booties priced from $79 to $149. The line, 10 styles in 26 colors and fabrics — from stiletto leopard calf hair to flat black suede — launches today, available for pre-order on Nine West's website. The footwear officially goes on sale, online and in 16 Nine West stores, Aug. 16.

It's the first time the baubles bible has ventured into retail. Likewise, the shoe sultan has paired up with other designers, but never a magazine.

But the union, stitched together over a dinner in Paris a year ago (no wonder a standout design is called the Gamin), "wasn't just about slapping our name on something," says InStyle editor in chief Ariel Foxman. "It was really about bringing the two powers of the brands to the consumer."

Welded into the rivets, buckles and metal ankle straps is "the trend and fashion knowledge of the InStyle organization and the product development and design expertise of the Nine West team," says the latter's chief marketing officer, Greg Clark.

Though Foxman says his jewels-and-jeans juggernaut has had "many" opportunities over the years to join forces with a fashion outfit, the choice was in part about simple math.

In an age when magazine success is seldom a given, "these are, quite frankly, ways for us to being additional revenue to the brand," Foxman says.

"We know Nine West sells 20 million-plus shoes a year. Our consumer is shopping high-low and our reader is inevitably hopping into Nine West. What a great way to work with a mass-enough brand that has a high-enough level of taste with a back office to produce anything we dream up?"

Both Foxman and Clark swear that from brainstorming to sketching to manufacturing to rubber-stamping, theirs is a 50/50 effort. InStyle accessories director Leah Karp was particularly hands on. "She scoured her own jewelry box for just the right chain, just the right grommet" as inspiration, Foxman says.

But why footwear as their first retail foray? "There's nothing more democratic than shoes and nothing more smile-inducing than shoes," says Foxman. "When we do shoe edits in our magazine, it scores through the roof."

"You don't have to be a size 2 to wear a great shoe," he adds. "There is something for everyone."

Indeed, InStyle and Nine West's fashion goal for the line is to tell "the complete trend story" for fall, Foxman says. "If a woman were to buy all the shoes from this capsule collection, she would be set for the season."

But the style story doesn't end at the bottom, with feet. A 12-page booklet getting inserted into InStyle's September issue and distributed in Nine West stores tells shoppers how to assemble an entire outfit with their new purchase — how to, say, get those metal-heeled leather booties noticed (with a mini-skirt and tights). "It's always about context, always about service," Foxman says. "We never just put an item on a page," or into someone's hands, alone.

Via Twitter, Facebook and email, Foxman says he knows that his reader is "clamoring to have our expertise and service in more places." Like, maybe, handbags? The editor says he's "always open" to more partnerships, whether low-cost or luxury, " but "it can't just be a random expression of the brand and hope she comes. It has to be thoughtful."

Bags or shoes, the aim is to help women "feel empowered to get up in morning, to make a choice that puts a spring in their step," Foxman says. "So to speak."